NYPD Officers Told Not to Chase Biker Gangs

Larry Celona, Kirstan Conley and Kate Sheehy On Oct 3, 2013
Source: Courtesy of The New York Post

They’re hell on wheels — and NYPD cops won’t touch them.

The department has ordered cops not to chase after large biker groups like the one that beat a driver near the West Side Highway because of the risk that innocent bystanders or the riders will be killed, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

“The people who are doing this aren’t stopping when police try to pull them over,” one source said, noting that the bikers can simply jump sidewalks and mow down pedestrians to flee cops.

The department also doesn’t have the manpower to police the rogue riders, who get together for pop-up outings and often use unregistered bikes.

They typically belong to motorcycle clubs that loosely organize rides up to several times a week in the summer in Manhattan.

They’re loud and can be reckless, but they are not usually involved in beating people up, one source noted.

The riders usually brag about their tricks by posting footage online.

“You go on YouTube, you could see dozens of [these rides] all along the West Side Highway, the Major Deegan, even one time in Times Square,’’ a law-enforcement source said.

Sunday’s ride was supposed to go through Times Square, but the NYPD kept it out.

Cops set up checkpoints around the area, and pushed the riders uptown — where they clashed with Manhattan Internet exec Alexian Lien, who was out driving with his family.

The group included riders from clubs such as Orion in Brooklyn and Firstline Soldiers in New Rochelle.

Two bikers who allegedly terrorized and beat Lien during a wild chase on the West Side Highway have been arrested.

Footage of their chase of the man was posted on the Web site Hollywood Stuntz — creating a serious problem for one unrelated New York company.

“It’s a mess,” said Bob Cotter, who runs the film-business firm Hollywood Stunts.

“When the news says [the Web site’s name], they don’t say its Hollywood Stuntz with a ‘Z.’ People are calling us and threatening us, saying that they want to do the same thing to us that [the bikers] did to [their victim].’’